Last Friday, on the eighth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, MAS contributing level members and higher joined MAS staff and directors to view the illumination of the Tribute in Light® from the downtown rooftop that houses the great battery of lights, accompanied by a brief lecture from architectural historian Francis Morrone on the tradition of using light as commemoration. Though the lights were partially obscured by low cloud and inclement weather, many of the images in the slideshow were taken during this year’s illumination.

The Tribute in Light honors those who were lost on September 11, as well as those who worked so hard to get our city through its greatest trial. The idea for the lights was independently conceived by several artists and designers, who were brought together under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society and Creative Time. The Tribute in Light is now produced annually by the MAS on the September 11th anniversary. It was designed by John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian Laverdiere, Paul Myoda and lighting designer Paul Marantz. Tribute in Light is made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and with the generous assistance of Con Edison.

To learn more about the history of the project and how it is put together annually, click here to watch a narrated slideshow.

This Friday the Tribute in Light will illuminate the skies over Lower Manhattan for the eighth year to commemorate the attacks on the World Trade Center. The Tribute in Light honors those who were lost on September 11, as well as those who worked so hard to get our city through its greatest trial.

The idea for the lights was independently conceived by several artists and designers, who were brought together under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society and Creative Time. The Tribute in Light is now produced annually by the MAS on the September 11th anniversary. It was designed by John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian Laverdiere, Paul Myoda and lighting designer Paul Marantz. Tribute in Light is made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and with the generous assistance of Con Edison. Continue Reading>>

Click here to read Lauren Collins’ article in this week’s New Yorker magazine on Howard Brandston’s recent “Night and Light and the City” MAS walking tour.

Noticing the difference between the yellow light of high pressure sodium and the white light of metal halide is akin to learning a new word. Once you know it, you see it everywhere. One woman on the walking tour suddenly noticed on her umpteenth bike ride across the Brooklyn Bridge that it is partly lighted by metal halide and partly by high pressure sodium — and that she much prefers the true colors conveyed by metal halide lights.

What about you? Do you have a favorite nighttime walk or bike ride? A park or street or esplanade that has special beauty after the sun goes down? Or, are there parts of city that you dislike because of the lighting? Let us know and it will help us plan our next nighttime walking tour, come fall.

A group of more than 50 New Yorkers gathered last night in Herald Square for an after-dark walking tour. They came to hear about the difference between high pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) lighting from Howard Brandston, one of this country’s leading lighting designers — and to see the difference for themselves. The City is in favor of HPS lights to save energy, money, and lessen light pollution of the night sky. The streetscape committee at MAS favors MH.

Under HPS lights on Eighth Avenue, fair-skinned people looked yellow, evergreens appeared brown and dying, and primary colors (held aloft on colored foam core boards) turned muddy and difficult to distinguish. Howard Brandston described HPS lighting as appropriate for roadways and highways, but not for a city which (as Lewis Mumford wrote) “…exists not for the passage of motor cars, but for the care and culture of man.” Continue Reading>>